Can you live without electricity?

Helping a new to caravanning couple equip their first ever caravan this weekend lead me to thinking how things have changed over the years - especially the priority equipment.  Their number one must have??? A mains hook up lead, of course.

So started an interesting debate.  On my left, the diehard traditionalists who believe that mains power to a caravan is a sacrilege and on my right the new caravanners and those of us who have the latest models that really are not designed to run on gas and 12V alone for more than a couple of nights in an emergency.

Which side of the fence do I sit on?  Problem here, I love rallying, but at this time of the year, I really do not relish pitching up without power, as the battery just won't stay up for the whole weekend, and you can't read in the dark.  We understand the issues of power consumption and have been caravanning for over 20 years, but still can't eake out the power in the winter months.  Once the days are a couple of hours longer than the nights and the solar panel can keep the battery topped up successfully, things change and mains power is no longer a priority.

The problem with the latest caravans is that so much power consumption is hidden - the loo flush needs the battery, the cooker will only ignite if your battery  is supplying power, the water heater and fridge both rely on battery for their electronic circuits, add the gas fire (electronic controls again) any lighting you may need and all those telltale lights in various hues and you can almost hear the power being sucked out of that battery.

So purchase number one - a new 110 amp hour leisure battery, rapidly followed by the mains hook up cable, after all the battery will need charging even if they are not using 240V all the time.  Don't make the mistake of buying a vehicle battery, they are not designed to take the long slow drain. 

Next came the lecture on Ohms law - volts times amps is watts, and Wardens' Law - patience diminishes in direct proportion to the number of callouts to reset the trip, exponentially rising in the rain, cold and hours of darkness.

The point is that you have to consider all that 'hidden' power usage before working out what is left from your 10amp supply on site.  The first piece of equipment to be switched on is the fridge.  Once the water has been connected, on goes the water heater.  If it is chilly, or the caravan has been standing for a while, the heater will go on, possibly with the fan to blow warm air into the washroom.  

You have an absolute maximum of 2400 watts, assuming a full 240 volt supply.  The heater alone can consume 2000 of those volts leaving just 400 for the fridge and water heater.  No wonder the trips are tripped so often.

The solution is simple - just keep doing the maths.  Turn the room heater down to 500 watts.  Do you need to leave the water heater on?  With the room heater down to 500 watts and the fridge still running, you have somewhere between 1800 and 2000 watts left.  That domestic kettle needs 3000 watts - oops tripped again.

Suitably chastised, the domestic electric kettle was consigned to the boot, and a shopping trip for a low wattage kettle was scheduled.  Other power saving ideas then started to surface.

Caravan dealers often have low wattage toasters in their accessory shops.  You don't need a domestic sized vacuum cleaner for a caravan, try one of the battery operated types (G-Tech do a fantastic powered sweeper which is charged from the mains then works for weeks in the caravan).

We got around to cooking, where the two sides polarised once again.  Electric slow cooker -v- casserole in the gas oven.  The slow cooker is very low wattage and can safely be left on whilst away from the caravan.  At this time of year though, a casserole in the oven will keep the caravan warm without needing the heater.

Then of course we started on the comparative costs of running on bottled gas or the electric hook up.  Another can of worms opened.

Thankfully we all agreed that the discussion needed another glass of wine, or possibly a beer.